DISTURBING links between long-term unemployment and serious ill health have spurred the launch of a major Government-funded research project.

Young men who have been out of work for more than six months are 40 times as likely to commit suicide than employed men of the same age.

Across all age brackets, more than nine months of unemployment has the same detrimental impact on health as smoking 60 cigarettes per day.

The Wales Centre for Health is responding to such statistics by launching a research project looking at long-term unemployment and the obstacles that prevent people from returning to work following an illness.

Professor Mansel Aylward, the centre's chairman, said, "The longer people remain on the sick, the less likely they are to ever return to employment. Yet, by and large, we believe that the reasons people fail to return to work are psycho-social rather than medical.

"We aim to look at the culture surrounding sickness and unemployment, along with the beliefs and attitudes that tramline people onto a particular course.

"We are also engaging with employers to see how they can help bring people back into the workplace, although not necessarily in the same capacity, if their health isn't up to it."

The study will run alongside the Department for Work and Pensions Pathways to Work initiative. It is founded on the belief that work is beneficial for physical and mental well-being.

Prof Aylward said, "I believe that the Pathways to Work scheme is the world's most effective social intervention. It is working remarkably well, but there is still a long way to go.

"Most people wish to return to work, but a combination of factors stand in their way. For instance, after a long period of being unwell, individuals lose touch with the workplace and their social networks.

"With their self-confidence undermined, returning to work can seem like a daunting prospect. We are determined to overcome the impediments that keep people off the payroll, when they would be happier at work."

Long-term sickness absence is understood to cost UK business more than £3.8bn a year, with total sickness absence costing £13bn.

The Wales Centre for Health is an Assembly-sponsored public body committed to promoting greater social inclusion and protecting and improving health and well being in Wales.

Socially excluded groups of people have been shown to be more likely to suffer poorer health than the population as a whole, and have traditionally benefited less from initiatives designed to improve health.

The centre also focuses on communicating independent information and advice and developing working networks and partnerships.